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Mumbai Indians finally recorded a win in the second leg of IPL 2021 when they beat Punjab Kings by 6 wickets on Tuesday.
The MI victory came after surviving a few jitters. Chasing an under-par 136 for victory, Mumbai started off tentatively, losing Captain Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive balls from leggie Rsvi Bishnoi.
This double strike brought the burly Saurabh Tiwary out to the crease. Tiwary might not have played a more crucial knock in the IPL
He came to the crease and took his time to find his feet, but once in he just plundered the bowling to ease the pressure on MI.
Tiwary took on the likes of Aiden Markram, Nathan Ellis and Harpreet Brar taking them for the big ones while getting the singles and twos.
After Quinton de Kock's dismissal, Tiwary kept motoring on -- first, content with just rotating the strike with Hardik Pandya before continuing to go big.
Needing 52 off 36, Tiwary clobbered Bishnoi over mid-wicket, but he was soon removed by Ellis.
Tiwary's 45 off 37 was crucial in the whole scheme of things with the points table opening up with this victory.
MI are now in the fifth spot with 10 points from 11 matches, while Punjab slipped to the sixth spot.
Tiwary, who has not been a regular fixture for the MI franchise, has made his presence felt with this valuable knock.